NANNA-VAN ROAD RAGE - The sunday mail brisbane.17th may, 2015 page 55

the rocket · Guru

NANNA-VAN ROAD RAGE - The sunday mail brisbane.17th may, 2015 page 55

Kev Pearce · Senior Member

I would love to comment but, seriously, I am speechless. The best I can do is to say when I read it in today's The Sunday Mail, I thought it was an incredible attack on Grey Nomads and others who tow caravans. The credibility of this publication and its sister 'paper The Courier-Mail has been sinking for some time. Wonder if they had any opposition publications, would their standard of product be higher? Of course, if the people who advertise to the caravanning market all withdrew their custom, that may have an effect. Also, if the caravanning community stopped roaming the country, especially rural regions like Outback Queensland, those communities would be financially hurt. I am awaiting a reaction from the Grey Nomad and caravanning communities. I do feel that before becoming caravanners, those of us who intend to become caravanners ought to undertake a caravan towing and handling course as conducted by organisations such as the RACQ in Queensland and various private trainers. We should be required to carry and produce the "graduation certificate" on request to appropriate authorities. I don't think formal "licensing" is necessary, but commonsense says we should at least participate in a towing and handling course as indicated.

-- Edited by Kev Pearce on Sunday 17th of May 2015 02:32:38 PM

justcruisin01 · Guru

What a brain dead dickhead. Sounds like he is getting a few knock backs. Do have to agree with the no experience in driving the bigger rigs a no towing experience . A 5 t ridged vehicle is a light truck licence yet 8 ton combo on a car licence does not make any sence. Just watched a vanner take an hour just to back a van the length of the rig in a straight line in a free camp with no obstacles so dont wish to see him in a caravan park JC.

Plendo · Guru

Unfortunately the majority of the people who read this article will agree with the author !

Even with the number of grey nomads on the road today, I expect we are outnumbered ten to one by the motorists who suffer frustration while they sit in long queues of traffic behind people towing along at their pace, and I do not know how often I have read it on this forum, that we travel at xx because we save 10% on our fuel.

I know that people feel they have worked and contributed all their life, and that they deserve the right to slow down in our retirement. Yes we can go somewhere, and stay a month rather than a week, yes we can choose to travel less distance each day we travel, but should we penalise everyone else for our lifestyle.

Given the huge number of vans that invade Queensland over the cooler months, I can only imagine the frustration that is felt by road users going about there daily activity, truckies, tradesmen, people going to and from work, mums going to pick up the kids, etc.

I suppose what I am trying to say, is that I understand the frustration that has lead the author to write this article, and I think we have brought it upon ourselves.

Perhaps rather than being shocked at what people are saying, we should look at what we can do about the aspects of our behaviour that are causing the concern.

My personal view is that I should drive in such a way as to minimise the inconvenience I cause others, this means I need to set my rig up well so that I can drive at or close to the posted speed limit.

I believe as a group we should make every effort to minimise the disruption and inconvenience we cause to others.

I know what I have said here will not be popular with many, but so be it.

-- Edited by Plendo on Sunday 17th of May 2015 03:19:20 PM

Explorer · Guru

Gave up reading that Richard Craniums column years ago.

Loves to bash 4WD's Bullbar's and anyody that has had a go & a bit more successful than He is.

Unfortunately a couple of people may take some notice of His continual rant. Pity that Rupert has to put up with Journo's that are too lazy or incompetent to dig up a decent story, & just rehash rubbish.

Mike.

aussie_paul · Guru

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-its-time-to-tackle-the-unregulated-and-undertaxed-menace-of-caravans/story-fnihsr9v-1227357491400

Aussie Paul. smile

dING · Senior Member

But what people forget is the posted speed limit

Is the maximum allowed not the minimum

the rocket · Guru

dING wrote:
But what people forget is the posted speed limit
Is the maximum allowed not the minimum

ditto

chaslib · Senior Member

Here is another one ..... very inflamatory .... I think this may have been posted previously, but here it is again ..... more of the same. The comments below the article are also an interesting read!

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/michael-mcguire-grey-nomads-are-the-worst-road-ragers-of-all/story-fni6unxq-1227294257010?sv=1715d9c4bb02b1651e3cf8fbadddaff3#.VSTPw7I_nds.facebook

Phillipn · Guru

On a trip to New Zealand a few years back. I noticed a sign under a speed limit, which read, this is the limit Not a target.

The road is not your road and it`s not my road, it is ours to share.

Friar Park · Senior Member

As an ex truck driver (with a grandson who is a road train driver) and as an ex copper I agree with Plendo. Education will always gain better results than Legislation. Educate before you Legislate. Every time a problem is highlighted theres a rush to get out the big stick and whack 'em (whoever the offenders are, whatever the perceived offence). Its Education and experience that has improved the world not the big stick.

Friar

done dreaming · Senior Member

Why is it a crime not wanting to rush everywhere.That is the bloody problem with society,no time for anything including their kids.The world needs to slow down and if he states we should be qualified like truckies damned if i am going to take ice or speed just to stay on the road longer and faster.If theres a problem with overtaking there should be more overtaking lanes and no matter what speed i have sat on they still overtake especially the truckies and why should we pay any more, the government will only waste it on their corrupt policies or their overseas "study trips" with their wives and or there lovers.

RobandFlip · Senior Member

Unless one is a contributer/member to the Sunday/Courier Mail, access to this article is not allowed. In our experience, (in Qld at the time) it is not just caravanners who travel a bit slow in designated speed zones, people not towing anything at all are also a hazard on the roads. Police will book people who travel too slow in optimal conditions if they are holding up traffic. Travelling at 80 klm an hour in a 100 klm zone is not acceptable just because you think you can do whatever speed that suits you under the limit. Travellers and everyday road users are entitled to travel at the speed limit if conditions warrant.

NeilandRaine · Guru

Little bit off topic but not completely. If there is a fair bit of traffic I do try to increase my speed a bit but then I see a place to pull over but I am travelling to fast to pull off the road. Can't wn

cruisaderhilton · Senior Member

confuse confuse confuse confuse confuse Ive been as im sure others have where I have been towing a caravan at the designated speed and been overtaken ,so just to do a little test I increased my speed by five kms over ,and bugger me if they still don't overtake me ,so matter what speed you are doing you cant satisfy everyone .This may upset some but if this fellow is so angry towards caravaners what does he say about cyclists, tractors ,roadworks that halt his daily progress at such a fast paced life he so obviously leads.

-- Edited by cruisaderhilton on Sunday 17th of May 2015 08:09:14 PM

rockylizard · Guru

cruisaderhilton wrote:
Ive been as im sure others have where I have been towing a caravan at the designated speed and been overtaken ,so just to do a little test I increased my speed by five kms over ,and bugger me if they still don't overtake me ,so matter what speed you are doing you cant satisfy everyone

Gday...

The last time I travelled on the Bruce Hwy - heading north from Gympie - along the section which goes on and on - which has a 90kph speed limit, and two centre lines about a metre apart, I sat on 90kph EXACTLY. I ended up with a convoy and there were no places to pull over so I just sat on 90kph.

Interestingly, on the CB I was subjected to almost constant jibes and abuse from the couple of truckies in the convoy whinging how I was holding up the traffic. As soon as there was anywhere with a bit of straight, cars and even a truck had to overtake me - obviously EXCEEDING THE 90kph limit. Not only dangerous but bloody stupid.

No matter what speed vans travel at, everyone will want to overtake - it becomes a compulsion

I sit on what I consider safe for me, the van and conditions - be that 80/85/90/95 ... and keep my eyes on mirrors and pull over or call them past (on CB or illegally with flick of indicator) when safe to do so.

My usual speed on multi-lane highways/freeways is 90-95kph ... on wide major roads 85-90kph .. and my preferred roads - those lovely back roads away from cities and traffic, I sit on 80kph.

As is often said, the person going faster than you is a speed hoon ... and the one going slower than you is a road block

cheers - John

madaboutled · Guru

When I was taught to drive many years ago it was pounded into me that you drive to the conditions not to the maximum speed limit. Yes there are rules on driving too slow, BUT, from what I've been taught was greater than 20% of the limit is considered to be slow. So based on this, 80 within a 100 zone is acceptable. However, if you drive at 80 in a 100 zone, then you should be checking you mirrors more often and if there's a build up of traffic of someone's been behind you for a bit, then you should pull over where it's safe to allow the faster traffic to pass.

I just did a quick search and came up with the following which backs up what I've said above. Whilst it applies to a freeway, I'm pretty sure that it would apply to open country roads as well:

3.12.3
Appropriate speeds for freeway driving
Freeways are designed for higher speed traffic flow than that allowed on standard roads.
You must not exceed the speed limit indicated on signs

Driving too slowly can cause dangerous situations on a freeway, so you are
required to travel at a speed that is no more than 20 km/h below the posted speed
limit (unless traffic, weather or visibility conditions prevent you from doing so).
That is, if the speed limit is 100km/h, you are not allowed to travel slower than 80km/h
(unless the road, weather, visibility, traffic and other conditions require you to travel
slower).

Source: http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/licensing/LBU_DL_B_DriveSafePart3.pdf

I'm sure if you search other states road handbooks you'll find similar wording.

Unfortunately, most people out there think anything longer than 30 seconds behind a slower moving vehicle is too long and get impatient and then take unacceptable risks to overtake, it is these people that cause the problems and accidents.

-- Edited by madaboutled on Sunday 17th of May 2015 08:39:19 PM

-- Edited by madaboutled on Sunday 17th of May 2015 09:41:01 PM

Baz421 · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
cruisaderhilton wrote:
Ive been as im sure others have where I have been towing a caravan at the designated speed and been overtaken ,so just to do a little test I increased my speed by five kms over ,and bugger me if they still don't overtake me ,so matter what speed you are doing you cant satisfy everyone
Gday...
The last time I travelled on the Bruce Hwy - heading north from Gympie - along the section which goes on and on - which has a 90kph speed limit, and two centre lines about a metre apart, I sat on 90kph EXACTLY. I ended up with a convoy and there were no places to pull over so I just sat on 90kph.
Interestingly, on the CB I was subjected to almost constant jibes and abuse from the couple of truckies in the convoy whinging how I was holding up the traffic. As soon as there was anywhere with a bit of straight, cars and even a truck had to overtake me - obviously EXCEEDING THE 90kph limit. Not only dangerous but bloody stupid.
No matter what speed vans travel at, everyone will want to overtake - it becomes a compulsion
I sit on what I consider safe for me, the van and conditions - be that 80/85/90/95 ... and keep my eyes on mirrors and pull over or call them past (on CB or illegally with flick of indicator) when safe to do so.
My usual speed on multi-lane highways/freeways is 90-95kph ... on wide major roads 85-90kph .. and my preferred roads - those lovely back roads away from cities and traffic, I sit on 80kph.
As is often said, the person going faster than you is a speed hoon ... and the one going slower than you is a road block
cheers - John

I had the last laugh last week on way home from Canberra as we regularly pull over and let others pass,,, BUT they are everywhere,,, 1 flies past us in 110km zone,,, and lo and behold 2 k's down the road I had to slow down to 25km as the copper was booking him.

Would have loved to toot the horn,, but that's an offence,,, and would I do that?????

justcruisin01 · Guru

Very interesting;; that no one ever comments on the need in many cases for some driver training.education a licencing for some of these rediculas sized vans with under sized tugs a 5th wheelers.How many are involved in accidents a bugger all is said or done yet when a truck is involved all hell breaks loose. Ignorance of these matters does not fix them.

aussie_paul · Guru

justcruisin01 wrote:
Very interesting;; that no one ever comments on the need in many cases for some driver training.education a licencing for some of these rediculas sized vans with under sized tugs a 5th wheelers.How many are involved in accidents a bugger all is said or done yet when a truck is involved all hell breaks loose. Ignorance of these matters does not fix them.

Exactly Jim!!!!

Aussie Paul. smile

pomme · Senior Member

Nobody seems to mention the fact as i see it, the problem with people that come up behind a slower moving vehicle and sit a few metres behind and don't bother to overtake ,so create a further problem making the next vehicle that comes along a longer distance to overtake and so on for each other car or truck, we have a convoy of frustrated people that cant overtake safely.
If you find that you cannot overtake drop back to a safe distance and let another vehicle from behind have a go, in other words keep a safe distance between you and the next vehicle.
I believe that is in the regulations anyway.
Common courtesy.
Pomme.

chaslib · Senior Member

I agree that some drivers towing on the roads today should be required to undertake some sort of refresher driving course - be that theory or practical is open for debate. I know the last time I even looked at a Driving Handbook was when I originally got my licence at age 17 - I am now 65! I am now working on getting my LR licence so I can drive an over 4.5t motorhome and when working through the online practice questions for the Knowledge Test (which is the first part of the LR Licence test), I was amazed at how much I had forgotten and how much I did not know! I have passed the DKT but only because I spent time doing the tests over and over again - I think this would benefit all drivers be it mandatory or voluntery! For NSW drivers you can access the free online test on the RMS website - just google RMS Driver Knowledge Test - the questions are all taken from the test you would be doing if applying for your licence - gives you the correct answers if you get it wrong and calculates if you would have actually passed or failed your licence test. I can thoroughly recommend it and I am sure other states have a similar app or website where you can do the same type of test.

Thats it from me

Santa · Guru

Have to say, overall I tend to agree with the author of the article, however the way it was written was certainly designed to stir the pot.

We live in a rural area with more than out share of old timers on the road, driving cars, motor homes and towing vans and trailers, not only do a lot of them slow traffic to a crawl they also seem to enjoy hugging the centre line making it almost impossible to overtake, they a danger to themselves and anyone else unfortunate enough to be sharing the road with them at the time.

One of the problems is that when doctors feel a persons health (physical or mental) is affecting their driving they have the discretionary power to limit the person to driving on local roads within a certain distance from home as far as I'm concerned your either fit to drive or your not, if a doctor considers anyone unfit to drive they should revoke that persons license.

Tailgating is a serious issue, it can have disastrous consequences http://www.driverknowledgetests.com/resources/what-is-tailgating/

Here's another link to the SA Govt site listing offenses and penalties http://www.mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/offences-and-penalties

-- Edited by Santa on Monday 18th of May 2015 10:02:41 AM

-- Edited by Santa on Monday 18th of May 2015 10:03:34 AM

Kev Pearce · Senior Member

All contributors have made good sense. The bottom line (for me anyway) is for caravanners to do a towing and handling course with an accredited trainer or training organisation; and to be very very mindful of following traffic so as to not bank it up for many kilometres. There are times and places where it is not possible to safely pull over to allow others pass................but as soon as the opportunity presents itself; DO IT.

PeterD · Guru

So the jurno has had his annual spleen vent. This comes up frequently. Nothing comes of it so why worry? Ignore him.

Santa · Guru

This link seems appropriate http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-18/top-10-driving-habits-that-drive-queenslanders-crazy-racq/6477270

Interesting that tail gating is number 2 on the list. smile

Take a look at RACQ's top-10 driving habits that most annoy Queensland drivers:

Motorists talking/sending SMS on hand-held mobiles
Drivers who follow too closely/tailgate
Motorists who increase their speed when you try to overtake them
Motorists who throw litter out of their vehicles
Motorists who incorrectly use indicators, e.g. indicate too late or fail to indicate at all
Motorists who are not courteous, e.g. allowing room to merge/change lanes
Motorists parking incorrectly, e.g. double-parking or using disability car parks
Motorists turning from the wrong lane, e.g. at multi-lane roundabouts
Motorists who do not move over to allow others to overtake
Motorists ignoring restricted speed limits, e.g. at school zones or road works

cruisaderhilton · Senior Member

wink wink wink wink wink wink wink There is a new Advert on tele about a certain brand of car ,it is towing a large caravan ,some of you may have seen it .There is a young boy sitting in the back seat as his father overtakes an older vehicle also towing a caravan . the young fellow just about sums it up when he says to his father ( BLOODY CARAVANERS ) Have any of you seen it on tele. disbelief

Ontos45 · Guru

cruisaderhilton wrote:
There is a new Advert on tele about a certain brand of car ,it is towing a large caravan ,some of you may have seen it .There is a young boy sitting in the back seat as his father overtakes an older vehicle also towing a caravan . the young fellow just about sums it up when he says to his father ( BLOODY CARAVANERS ) Have any of you seen it on tele.

Actually the son is repeating what his father says, and notice they are overtaking an older van, have the latest nd greatest to be a dork.

Many times I've been on a straight road at 80 kph and have a car pull in behind me, close up and not overtake. The next vehicle then has to overtake the car behind and me. I pull over as far as possible mindfull of broken curb edges and the mine field of shredded steel banded car tires on the verge, flat tire country. Seems like modern drivers don't have a clue how to overtake even in a car capable of 200 kph plus. My 80 kph is legal and even below unless impeding traffic flow.

I drive on an HR (heavy ridged) licence.

gwb · Senior Member

The majority of us also purchase a "made in Australia" van that helps our local manufacturing industry. We should also take into account that at this time of the year there are an awful lot of interstate visitors to our state and they pay less than we do for van registration so on whom is he going to impose his levy or will it be collected at the border.
Geoff and Bev

NeilandRaine · Guru

Just wondering, if they say you should travel no slower than 20k under the speed limit does this mean you should be doing 110 on some NT roads. Imagine doing that with a strong head wind